PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Great breakfast with Jason French (his first visit here).  Sicilian Hash and Biscuits and Gravy.   Mark Doxtader walked in five minutes after we were talking about Tastebud.   Not sure if his ears or his tastebuds were ringing.

I had some business to discuss at H50, so I stopped in early for breakfast. I had been to H50 for Happy Hour quite a few times (often finding myself on Naito Parkway and diverting before hitting I-5 for one of my favorite Happy Hours in Portland). I’d also been for dinner once. While much is memorable about H50, I think my favorite dish even was a dessert–the churros with the spiced chocolate and homemade marshmallow. I had also used some of H50s images for my website, which were particularly beautiful presentations.

Back to breakfast, though. Normally, it’s hard for me to resist a big breakfast when a menu like this is whetting my appetite, especially when I heard the party near me raving about their French Toast…

BREAKFAST IN BREAD sauteed arugula, tillamook cheddar, scrambled eggs, roma, aioli    7

HOUSE-SMOKED SALMON HASH soft poached egg, crispy new potato, sofrito, smoked salmon, avocado puree  12

A.M. STARTER  house-made yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, toast   8

H₅O BREAKFAST two eggs, toast, sausage, crispy new potatoes  10

FRENCH OMELETTE sun-dried tomato goat cheese, greens, fresh asparagus with crispy potatoes  10

AMERICAN OMELETTE  black forest ham, tillamook cheddar, green onions, crispy potatoes 10

FRENCH TOAST grand marnier custard-soaked brioche, fresh seasonal fruit 8

CLASSIC EGGS BENEDICT english muffin, poached all natural eggs, ham, roasted tomato & hollandaise, crispy potatoes 11

STEAK AND EGGS oz culotte sirloin steak, two eggs your style, fine herbs, crispy potatoes, your choice toast 14  (# of ounces missing from the online menu)

CLASSIC LOX  fresh bagel, whipped cream cheese, crispy capers, lemon marmalade  10

A LA CARTE

PANCAKES grade A maple syrup, fresh seasonal fruit 7

CARAMELIZED GRAPEFRUIT 1/2 grapefruit, caramelized to golden brown  2

ASSORTED FRUIT  assortment of fresh and seasonal fruit  3

FRESH YOGURT & GRANOLA house-whipped with home-made ingredients  3

TOAST choice of white, wheat, english muffin, or plain bagel  2

EGGS YOUR STYLE  two farm fresh eggs prepared to your liking  4

NUESKES BACON two slices of thick cut bacon 3

CHICKEN AND APPLE SAUSAGE great alternative for those who don’t eat pork 3

CRISPY NEW POTATOES  finished with sea salt and fine herbs 3

ASSORTED COLD AND HOT CEREAL ask your server about the many choices  3

BEVERAGES

Stumptown Coffee

Espresso

Latte

Mocha

Hot Tea

Fresh Juice –

orange, apple, tomato, cranberry, grapefruit

3

CHEF Nicholas A. Yanes — CHEF de CUISINE Trevor Niekowal

But this morning, I went for something lighter, since the caramelized grapefruit seemed to catch my eye — something I’d never had before. So, I grouped that together with some other a la carte items, the house-whipped yogurt with granola and an English muffin.

I needed to section the grapefruit, and once done, it had a sweet juicy saltiness thing going on. Very unusual, but different that the usual sugar-topped version. Of course, homemade jam accompanied what appeared to be a Thomas’ English muffin. Speaking of those, years ago, these were only sold on the east coast. Once, with my girlfriend, I took a shopping bag full of them on the plane back to Tucson, and the bag was shredded in the security screening at LaGuardia Airport. There were Thomas’ English muffins everywhere. Everyone thought I was nuts. But if they’d known they couldn’t be bought in Tucson, I am sure they would have understood why I had a dozen packages of them! I mean really… what’s important in life?? So here we were, salvaging what we could and taking the ones that weren’t exposed to the conveyor belt with us. Our treasured Thomas’ English Muffins.

That leads me to wonder, while most of the favored spots in Portland will serve homemade jams or preserves and excellent breads, as H50 does, does anyone in Portland make a homemade English muffin? Hmmmm…. mmmmm. I’d go for that. And another thought. Next time I order an English muffin at a restaurant, I will ask them to butter it right out of the toaster. English muffins NEED to have melted butter dressing them. That’s what brings out the flavor.

This light breakfast, with a view of the Waterfront Park and the Morrison Bridge, was purely delightful. The whipped yogurt and granola were perfect–chilled, light and tasty, with crunch. Although I would recommend only having that grapefruit as a breakfast appetizer. You can’t go from anything sweet back to that. One’s palette simply isn’t set up after the delightfully sweet yogurt to go back to that salty very easily, or so I learned. Speaking of sweet, though, there was the check. $7.

H50 has always been a great go-to spot.

Some of my best days in life are those when I take my beloved doggy Oakley out to Manzanita for a romp, usually on the spur of the moment.  I try to go at least twice a month, but am happy if I can make it happen even more than that.

A few weeks ago, I was doing the loop to Manzanita from my favored Route 6 via Tillamook.  It’s a little longer, but worth it because it’s more scenic, and because there’s less traffic than one would encounter on Route 26.   I took a side road that passes a little private drive called Bullshit Lane, and was sorry to see that the artichoke farm nearby had no artichokes growing yet, or stand where one could buy a few.  They’re usually gigantic, and really cool to see growing, especially with the mountains as a backdrop.  You pass the Tillamook Cheese factory and then some pretty cool islands off on the driver’s side north of Garibaldi, buzzing through Rockaway Beach and then the cute little town of Wheeler, before you hit very picturesque Nehalem Bay.  The next town up is Manzanita, and it’s my favorite beach of all.   Oakley is always patient on this drive.  It’s worth the time for a dog or a human, but especially both (I think he’d have a hard time doing this without me).

I’d never stopped at Wanda’s but was always curious about it.  So, as my first realization that I must do this in the name of “research” (I say this half seriously but always with salivating tongue-in-cheek), I stopped in for a small lunch.  It’s a lot cuter inside than you think it’s going to be from the outside.  It reminded me of a bed and breakfast we once stayed at in Calistoga years ago.  Blue and white chairs, campy decorations but tastefully done.  There was a TV doubling as a fake aquarium.

The menu is a breakfast/lunch deal, and is full of delicious choices.  I wasn’t too hungry, so I ordered the half club sandwich with avocado (the server asked me if I wanted that added) and soup–tomato garlic.  The sandwich was everything you think of when you think of the bounty of Oregon food.  Delicious seemingly homemade wheat toast with rich red tomatoes, large chunks of avocado, romaine, and thick peppery bacon, with a touch of mayo.   The soup was quite special, although it could have been a bit hotter.  All this for six bucks.  And it was quite enough to fuel a great walk.  (We ended up doing six miles, as I could verify from my MyTracks app on my Droid.)  The day was great, and Wanda’s was a part of it.

During the next trip out, I stopped there with Austin.  We surely could have been more adventurous in what we ordered, but the same delicious half-sandwich and this time, the Peasant soup, were exactly what we felt like.  The Peasant soup was overflowing with chunks of sweet potatoes and vegetables, and was extremely tasty.

A friend told me that the Huevos Rancheros at Wanda’s were amazing, and it wasn’t until we were walking the beach that I remembered.   No problem.  Leaves me another reason to stop in.

Again, a great little spot.  Great to know about.

Day two of Jim, Birgess, and Sloan Zazie’s (you’ll see why I included her middle name here in a moment) visit to Portland. Lots of great choices for brunch, of course, but we opted for a misty 8:45am arrival at Tasty & Sons. There was a short line, but by 9:00 it was clear to see why you need to get there a few minutes shy of opening. We got the last table in the back, and waited a while before we ordered. I noted there was no John Gorham present on this particular morning. It had been a couple of months since Tasty opened and now it appeared he had it running smoothly without his having to be there.

As mentioned before, Tasty is in a comfortable space with an open kitchen, high ceilings, maroon walls and great art on the walls. Fairly understated and simple, yet… TASTY! The place was completely packed with a line out the door by the time we gave our order.

They serve family style, and so we peppered the server with our order. Their menu looks like Toro Bravo’s, but for brunch! The items we ordered are in red, below. In our party, one vote went to the French Toast, and three votes were cast for the polenta as the dish of the day, even though the wild card was the actual tastiest things to be had in the place — Sloan Zazie’s cheeks.

Sloan’s middle name came from a breakfast spot in San Francisco. It’s quite possible that if Jim and Birgess had lived in Portland, she’d be named Sloan Tasty, because while Zazie’s was good, the two places we’ve been in Portland were shining examples of why Portland can go head to head with SF’s food scene BEFORE you take into account that it’s about a third less to eat here.

Our menu changes regularly, based on seasonal variations, local farmers’ produce, and the kitchen crew’s inspiration. The menu below gives a general idea of recent offerings.

Updated on May 19, 2010

Smaller Plates
Chocolate Potato Doughnut with crème anglaise 1.5

Griddled Bacon Wrapped Dates with maple syrup 2ea
Toast & Jam with Teleme cheese & two jams 4
Kyle’s House made Granola with fresh Oregon strawberries 6
Breakfast Board 7
Potatoes Bravas with over easy eggs* 7
Bambino scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit & Heathers honey butter 6
Open Faced Monte Cristo with spiced maple 6
Sauteed Spinach with sunny side up egg 5

Glazed Yams with cumin-maple 4
Radicchio with parmesan reggiano vinaigrette* 7

Bigger Plates
Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit with fried chicken or sausage 8
Cast Iron Frittata with asparagus, English peas, olives & feta 7
Auntie Paula’s French Toast with strawberry-rhubarb-maple & whipped cream 5/10

Boudin Blanc Omelete with Dijon & asparagus 9
House Smoked Tasso Hash with horseradish cream & over easy egg 10
Shakshuka; red pepper & tomato stew with baked eggs 9
Steak & Eggs with cornmeal pancake & jalapeño butter 11
Burmese Red Pork Stew with short grain rice & eggs two ways 9
Pork Cutlets with fried egg & sautéed spinach 10
North African Sausage with over easy egg, couscous & cauliflower 9
Croque Madame 10
Polenta & Sausage Ragu with mozzarella & fried egg 8

Monk’s Carolina Cheesesteak* 8
House Bacon Burger with Beecher’s cheddar or smoked bleu cheese* 10
Classic Cobb Salad* 10

Sweets
Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie baked to order, with vanilla ice cream 5
Ristretto Coffee Panna Cotta with Amarena cherry 6

*contains raw egg

Back in the car for a trip to Crown Point, and the Bridge of the Gods. The Food Gods have been treating us well.

My cousin Jim and his posse, which consists presently of his dear wife Birgess and the sweetest and roundest two month-old ball of love, Sloan Zazie (which is the name of the breakfast joint around the corner from them in SF) came up for a visit this past weekend. Of course, we made it into a VIP Portland Food Adventure.

I told them to arrive hungry. On the way to the airport I called Arleta Library Cafe to see how long the line was. Once again, I was met with an unwillingness to put my name on the list without my being there. I understand why they have the policy, but for regulars, I think they’re making a mistake. They just lost a $70 table. Frankly, going to the Country Cat, closer and easier, was the better choice anyway especially with a baby along for the ride.

The Country Cat had a nice window table, where we could place Zazie right next to Birgiss on the long bench running along the window. We ordered some sticky buns to tide us over till the meals came. Orders around:

Whiskey Custard Challa French Toast with pecans and bananas and Grade B Maple Syrup (my favorite grade!)

Grilled Cheese Sandwich
& Smoked Tomato Soup

Baked Egg with atop asparagus and house made potatoes (not listed on the menu so I couldn’t cut and paste)

Eggs Benedict On a sweet cream biscuit with smoked Steelhead, preserved lemon hollandaise & home fries

We ordered a side of homemade house bacon as well. Jim told us that coincidentally he asked his fish supplier to E&O Trading company about Steelhead, and as I loosely suspected, it’s basically a hybrid between a salmon and trout. If you want the real story, call your local fisherman or Jim at E&O and he’ll be glad to tell you. Everything was amazing and filling. We shared most all dishes and left extremely satisfied.

I was able to have the pleasure of speaking to Jackie Sappington, the better half of the husband/wife Country Cat proprietorship, and she informed me that Adam was defending his title as Portland’s Iron Chef in a benefit that evening. He won. No surprise here. Country Cat has always been one of my favorite spots in Portland, and this brunch didn’t let anyone down. It was a FANTASTIC first food experience for my foodie cousin Jim and his beautiful family. Next, it was off to the Lake Oswego Farmers Market, where, unfortunately, there was no chance of us having the donuts they serve there.

Yes, and one other tip: Never leave the Country Cat without at least a half pound of their insane homemade beef jerky in your hand. They just need to package it in a Ziploc instead of a box. Treats it like the contraband that it is!